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Today: 10 More Hostages Set To Be Released After Truce Extended; Jimmy Carter, President Biden To Attend Rosalynn Carter Memorial; All 41 Workers Rescued From Collapsed Tunnel In India. Aired 11:30a-12p ET
Aired November 28, 2023 - 11:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:30:00]
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: (voiceover) And they are on their way to Atlanta to attend the service. And we've also learned that all living former First Ladies, Jill Biden, Laura Bush, Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama, and Melania Trump will all be attending to honor one of their own, First Lady Rosalynn Carter. She died November 19 at the age of 96. And since then, we have heard such beautiful tributes to her life and the legacy that she left behind not just at the sight of her husband, but on her own. Let's watch for a moment.
The memorial service for Rosalynn Carter will begin shortly. And CNN's special live coverage of the tribute to honor the life and legacy of the former First Lady will begin on CNN at noon Eastern. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:36:21]
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Back here on the ground in Tel Aviv as we are waiting for the fifth round of hostages to be released by Hamas to the Red Cross and then brought through Egypt eventually coming back here on Israeli soil. But so many families tonight are not having their loved ones as a part of that group of unexpected 10 hostages to be released. One of them is my next guest, Eylon Keshet.
His cousin Yarden Bibas and his entire family Shiri and their two boys that everyone has seen, Ariel and Kfir have been taken hostage. And you have been told they are not expected to be part of this group that's released tonight. Is that right?
EYLON KESHET, COUSIN OF YARDEN BIBAS: That's right.
COLLINS: What can you tell me just about how your family is doing and given this entire now 52 days that they've been gone?
KESHET: This is a real nightmare scenario for us. It's a very vicious cycle of depression, anger, and fear. And the only thing that keeps us awake and lets us wake in the morning is the hope that they'll come back. And of course, all the amazing Israeli and Jewish community that's supporting us and hugging us every day. COLLINS: Yes. And when you found out that they were doing an extension of what's happening right now -- this truce for two more days, to hopefully bring more people home. Did it make you more hopeful?
KESHET: It did a little bit. But as we've seen now like they have -- they were -- they were supposed to bring all the women and children back home on this -- in this time, and they're still the only ones under 5 years old that are being kept in the terrorist hands right now. It's Kfir and Ariel.
And so, we can count on anything they say unless I see it. It doesn't -- it doesn't happen. Because they play twisted power plays with their lives, with my family's lives.
COLLINS: And Kfir, I mean, he's 10 months old. He was 9 months old when he was kidnapped. He turned 10 months old in captivity.
KESHET: Yes.
COLLINS: I mean, I can't even imagine how worried you are about him.
KESHET: Yes. You know, we are really, really worried about him. He's just -- he's now approaching 11 months old. We have no information at all about their condition. And we know that these are not conditions to raise a baby.
We're not sure if he's malnourished or if he can make it. Every day that he's staying there is a real, real danger for his life and his development. And we don't want to get him all the rest of the family in very bad -- body bags. It's really, really -- we're really, really afraid about them.
COLLINS: I mean, he's still got a bottle. I mean, he's in diapers. He's just this tiny baby. And --
KESHET: Exactly. We don't know if they -- if they nourish him if they give in what they need because he's so little. He's not even -- when he got kidnapped, he was still on stage that is not entirely can be able to eat solid food. And he needs a baby formula because unfortunately, if she can't breastfeed, so we're really worried that he will starve to death in lack of better words.
And then also, Arial is, unfortunately, a fragile child. And he has several medical conditions. And he has a skin condition that he can bleed from if he doesn't get special treatment, and we are so worried about them. So --
[11:40:05]
COLLINS: And he's just 4 years old.
KESHET: He just --
COLLINS: You were telling me how much he loves tractors.
KESHET: Yes. COLLINS: Yes. And --
KESHET: Ariel is such a lively child. And he really likes cars and tractors. And there are so many photos and videos of him like playing around with cars and riding them. And you know, he was also like a very big Batman fan, like superheroes fan.
COLLINS: Yes.
KESHET: And I really wish that Batman was real right now, so maybe he could bring him back home.
COLLINS: And you were telling me you remember when Kfir was born, you met him when he was just 2 weeks old, just this tiny baby?
KESHET: Yes. He -- it wasn't so long ago because he's only 11 months old right now. It was two weeks -- he was only two weeks old. And we -- I held him in my arms, like very gently. And you know, he just -- and I was shocked that he was a redhead just like hair. He's the older --
COLLINS: Oldest brother.
KESHET: Like -- yes. Unfortunately, now the red -- the redhead became a symbol of normal, beautiful life in front of very unbelievably evil just came and shattered into pieces. And you can't believe these two redheads head to -- head and have to experience what they're going through.
You know, their grandparents were murdered. And they probably, Yael and Shiri, the mother probably don't even know this. And the --
COLLINS: Yes.
KESHET: And they were taken very violently. The home was full of gunshots. That home -- the home itself. And they drilled into the house and destroyed it. They've left nothing -- they left nothing there.
His eldest sister was there to check if there's anything left, and they just destroyed or took everything they could. And they had to go through gunshots and shouting and blood and body parts in the street. This is the reality they had to go through.
And now 53 days they're going through this nightmare, and they -- it doesn't make any sense. It doesn't make any sense that anyone can let this keep going that a baby and 4-year-olds will be imprisoned with their mother. They shouldn't be kept like this. It's so scary. It really is. Just -- we can get -- we can let it go on.
Just think about it. If this was your child, would you want them to be in terrorist hands in captivity? Even not seeing them for 53 days is just -- is so hard. Like are these the enemies of Hamas? Are these the enemies of anyone?
Could -- should these children be used as bargaining chips? No, they shouldn't. This is the simple answer. They shouldn't be used as bargaining chips for any political or religious or whatever reason. There is no justification for using them like this. So, we just -- we just want -- we just want them back, really. Sorry.
COLLINS: It's OK. Thank you so much for sharing that. I know that's not easy. We're all hoping that they come home. Eylon Keshet, thank you for that.
KESHET: Thank you.
COLLINS: Thank you for coming on to talk about something so painful.
KESHET: Yes. Thank you. I just -- I just wish to say one more thing.
COLLINS: Go ahead.
KESHET: We know -- we thank the president -- the U.S. President, Biden and Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar, and the president of Egypt, El-Sisi. They've been -- they've demonstrated their ability to intervene and make dreams come true and make some of the hostages come home. And we beg -- we beg of you. We asked you so much, to help us to intervene -- to bring them back home to make them part of the very next time they release more hostages. Please, just -- and the Red Cross also.
Again, we have no one piece of information about the well-being. We don't know what -- if they're OK. We don't know if they're just bleeding out or serving to this. So, please let the Red Cross through, and let -- put pressure on Hamas to let the Red Cross provide medical aid. We don't want, when we get them together, in body bags. Please.
COLLINS: Eylon Keshet, thank you for sharing that with us.
KESHET: Thank you.
COLLINS: We're going to be thinking of all of you and hoping that they come back very soon. We'll be back in just a moment.
KESHET: Thank you.
[11:45:05]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: In just moments, a service will begin to honor former First Lady Rosalynn Carter. We just watched a touching processional as her casket was brought to the church in Atlanta, Georgia. Her four children Jack, Jim, Jeff, and Amy will be there.
And amazingly, her husband, President Jimmy Carter will be attending despite the fact that he's been in hospice himself for more than nine months. President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden just touched down in Georgia as they make their way to the service. And all of the living former first ladies will attend including Laura Bush, Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama, and Melania Trump.
[11:50:05]
CNN's Eva McKend is in Atlanta where the service is being held today. What are you learning about the service, and what we will be seeing throughout the next hour or so?
EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Sara, remarkably, that 99-year-old former President Jimmy Carter will in fact be here. I'm told by his grandson Jason that he won't speak, that he is physically diminished, but that he would not miss this for the world. We also have learned that Rosalynn, that she planned this service before her passing.
So much of what we will see today, Garth Brooks performing, Trisha Yearwood performing. Gospel hymns that meant so much to her, that was by her design. It looks like any moment now, what we are going to see is the casket arrive. Slowly, we see a processional of vehicles. I'm going to have my photographer pan over here, as we wait for the casket to arrive any moment now.
And, Sara, when it does arrive, what we will see is all of the Carter's living -- surviving grandchildren serving as pallbearers. But this is bound to be a touching ceremony. We know the dignitaries from all across the country are here. But what the family tells me is more than all of the famous faces that we might see today are of importance to them or the many Georgians that have just shown a tremendous outpouring of support, Sara.
SIDNER: Yes. For folks from the south, she was a true Georgia girl. But she had a huge impact on the world. Her humanitarian work is just absolutely amazing. And we are again watching from early this morning her casket going into the hearse there as it makes its way to the -- her final resting place. Thank you so much, Eva McKend for that.
And we will be watching. There will be a special coming up on CNN at noon Eastern Time. You can watch the service of Rosalynn Carter. That begins in just a few minutes. Kate?
BOLDUAN: Coming up still for us. The new video coming in of the 41 workers finally emerging now after more than two weeks of being stuck underground when a tunnel collapsed. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BOLDUAN: More of the breaking news out of India right now. After being stuck underground for more than two weeks, all 41 workers who have been -- had been trapped in a collapsed tunnel have now been rescued. Ambulances were seen carrying the workers away from the tunnel high in the Himalayan Mountains. For 17 days their only contact with the outside world was a small pipe where they were able to get food and water.
CNN's Vedika Sud has more on this rescue. You've been following this obviously so closely. Any word on how they're all doing right now?
VEDIKA SUD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, of course. The chief minister of the state of Uttarakhand in northern India, where this incident took place, just held a press conference. And he has confirmed that all of them are pretty healthy surprisingly. And in fact, there was -- you know, the stretchers that were sent in, they were the stretches sent in to pull them out of that pipe, which is about three meters in diameter to pull the -- three feet rather, my apologies, in diameter to pull them out. But instead of coming out on stretchers -- on wheels, they chose to crawl out of that pipe.
[11:55:00]
That in itself shows the mental and physical condition of these workers. Despite having those stretchers, dozens of them on standby, the rescue teams taking them into pull these men out, they crawled out. Now, all of them have been whisked away in ambulances to a medical center where they'll be under observation. And of course, all the parameters will be checked medically. And also, the mental trauma perhaps that they've gone through. But the good news is they all safe and healthy, according to the state chief minister. back to you.
BOLDUAN: Vedika Sud, thank you so much. So rarely do we get great news out of something like that, and so thankful they're out now on the road to recovery. It's an amazing story.
SIDNER: It is. And you see the men sort of bowing there. They're basically part of the tradition is to touch someone's feet to show them respect, but the Minister is like no, stay up.
BOLDUAN: Please, stay up.
SIDNER: Rather than for making it out of there. All right, thank you so much. Our special coverage of the memorial for former First Lady Rosalynn Carter starts now.
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